Bio Summary: J McCart, M.F.A./M.A.
J is a writer, administrator, stage director, and playwright focusing on story, myth, memory, and depth psychological processes. She is a past Associate Editor and Play Review Editor of the Children's Theatre Review, a drama critic with Drama-Logue, a published playwright with Anchorage Press, and a contributor to two seminal books in the field of theatre and drama in community — Senior Adult Theatre edited by Roger Cornish and C. Robert Kase and Isabel Burger's Creative Drama for Senior Adults. J has contributed to such journals as Between Literary Review, Children's Theatre Review and U.S. Center for ASSITEJ Newsletter. Her 2005 autobiographical essay “Blacksmith of My Soul” is published in Wise Women Speak: Changes Along the Path.
J provided research/writing services for community arts organizations for publication, consulting services and statistical research/needs assessments for such for-profit entities as Management for the Arts, Stanley R. Hoffman Associates, and Agard & Spencer Opinion Research Associates, and the non-profit California State/Local Partnership Program. J also provided consulting services to such film industry clients as O' Films, Black Sheep Films, Frantic Redhead Productions, and Salem Productions.
J earned a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Theatre for Young Audiences/Creative Dramatics from University of Texas at Austin and recently completed her Masters of Arts (M.A.) in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, where she is currently completing post-graduate studies for Ph.D. candidacy.
J has directed for theatres in Texas and California, including Theatre on Wheels (Houston), Celebration Theatre (Los Angeles), California State University (Northridge), Gaslight Theatre (Austin), Jabberwocky Players (Austin), San Dieguito Junior Theatre (Del Mar, CA), and Frantic Redhead Productions (Edinburgh, Scotland); and has conducted various workshops and presentations at national and regional conferences. While in California, J taught drama, rehearsal/performance techniques, and creative dramatics at San Diego Junior Theatre and in the California State University system.
During the 1980s, J served as arts administrator for the Cities of Austin and San Diego, where she co-established the San Diego/Tijuana Cultural Exchange Program, Associate Produced multiple videos promoting the Arts in San Diego, and produced/wrote the 7-minute public-art promotional video City Gates. As a Theatre Arts/Education consultant, she advocated for education reform and equitable arts funding for organizations and individual artists. During her years in California, J worked as Theatre Critic for Drama-Logue, Adjunct Professor in the California State University System, Stage Director for Frantic Redhead Productions at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Theatre/Education Consultant for Galef Institute's Different Ways of Knowing Program, Community Arts Organizer/Facilitator for the Los Angeles Arts Recovery Program, and Theatre Artist/Coach for The Mid-South California Arts Project. In 1998, she received an Honorary Award Recognition for Distinguished Service to Theatre in California.
J served as Coordinator of Business and Legal Affairs for Crusader Entertainment and worked as a paralegal in pre-production finance, above-the-line contracts, trademark registration, clearance, and copyright on such feature films as Ray, Sahara, The Game of Their Lives, and Children On Their Birthdays.
J advocates for government accountability, Civil Liberties and affordable/sustainable housing. She says, "…individuals make a difference for humanity through individual action, and through action, seed powerful and effective change…".
